News
Monday, February 1st - Reopening, return to original hours
Starting on Monday, February 1st, the Southgate Veterans Memorial Library will be open its normal hours of Monday – Thursday 10am – 9pm, and Saturdays 10am – 5pm. Restrictions on visits and options are in place.
- Library occupancy is limited to 15 people; this includes library staff. For this reason, visits to the library will have a 30 minute time limit, per day. We want to let people stay and enjoy the library, browse at their leisure, but to give everyone a chance to come in, and to better enable social distancing, this is a necessary precaution. Staff will be monitoring this number; you may be asked to wait if the library is full.
- Due to the time limit on library use, computer access is similarly reduced to 30 minutes per day. Please plan your computer use ahead of time, making sure you have passwords, documents, flash drives, etc., all prepared and ready to use. Staff can provide only limited assistance with computer questions.
- Masks, covering both the nose and mouth, will be required for entry into the library. An exception is made for children under the age of 5, as well as for those who are medically unable to wear a mask. If you do not have a mask upon entry, one will be offered to you. Refusal to wear a mask, apart from the accepted exceptions, will result in service being denied, and you will be asked to leave.
- Public meetings are not available at this time.
- All returns should be placed in the dropbox. Returns will be quarantined for a minimum of 48 hours before being processed. Fines and/or fees may be applied to your account due to this delay; do not pay these fines/fees. When the quarantine has ended, staff will backdate the returns to when they were received, and any erroneous charges will be removed or reduced (fines may remain if the item was originally returned late).
- Staff will be disinfecting areas of high contact at set intervals throughout the day, to try and reduce the likelihood of contamination. Cleaning staff will be performing more thorough cleaning and disinfecting daily.
- Curbside service will continue to be available, using lockers located at the front entrance. Simply call ahead, we’ll take down your information, and give you a locker number and combination. Then, you pick up your items at your leisure, without needing to come inside.
- Please do not come to the library if you feel unwell. Patrons exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, such as shortness of breath, coughing, fever, etc., will be asked to leave.
- Please maintain social distancing as best you can while in the library. We have narrow aisles, that do not allow for easy passing; please wait until other patrons have moved on, walk further around to reach your destination. The floor near the front desk will be marked with appropriate places to stand while waiting for assistance.
If we all work together, we can beat this pandemic, and keep the library open. It’s up to all of us to do the best we can, for ourselves and for each other. We hope to provide the best service possible while staying safe! Welcome back!
Sign up for a library card remotely
We are now offering the opportunity to sign up for a library card remotely! Any Southgate resident who does not have a card, or who needs to update an old card, can send us their information, and we will reply with everything you need to gain access to our digital collection. If you already have a card beginning with 29014, you should be set; this is for new cards and updates only.
To get a new or updated card number, send the following information to the Director, Don Priest, through email, with the subject heading "New Library Card".
- First Name
- Last Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Birthdate
Email address: dpriest@southgate.lib.mi.us
Once we are able to, we will enter your information into the system, and send you your card number and PIN. It may take a day or two, as staff is only in the building for a few hours a week. This card number will be good for 3 months. To extend its lifespan, and to retrieve the physical card, you will need to come in when we are open again, and provide proof of identity and address (drivers license is ideal). We'll fill in the rest of the details of your account, and you'll be set for the standard 3 years.
To find our digital offerings, go to https://www.southgate.lib.mi.us/eBooks/eBooks.html
Stay home, and stay safe!
Magazines on Download Destination/Libby!
In 2020, Overdrive acquired RBDigital in North America. They recently completed transferring RBDigital content to the Download Destination/Libby platform; now, you can access hundreds of magazines, right alongside your eBooks and eAudiobooks! There’s nothing special you need to do, just borrow or request them the same way you would anything else with Download Destination/Libby.
Want to take a look at what magazines are available? The easiest way to browse is to click on the link for Collections on the Download Destination homepage, which will show a number of further options. Magazines are broken down into broad subjects, such as Food & Cooking, Fashion, Health & Fitness, and more! Choose the category that interests you, or click on “See All” for even more subjects. Of course, if you already know what you want, you can always try a keyword search!
You can continue with magazines through RBDigital for now, but it will be shutting down after March 2021.
Featured
New "Take and Make" craft kits available
Small kits are available for families to take home and keep that contain most of what you need to make one of the small crafts that would normally feature after our story times, or as standalone events. These can be picked up from a table in our lobby, or if you prefer you can call us to arrange to have one or more put in a locker for you. These kits have proven to be very popular, and all are available only while supplies last, so don't wait on these!
Valentine's Day is long gone, and so are the chickens. Now we have the ever popular Yarn Mini-Monsters! Paper Circuits are almost all gone, come and get them while you can. Once they go they'll be replaced with Craft Stick Catapults!
First Annual Adult Winter Reading Program
Today marks the start of our very first Adult Winter Reading Program! Our theme this year is ‘hygge,’ a defining characteristic of Danish culture that’s all about being cozy, comfortable, and content. Pronounced hue-guh, we hope this theme gives you an excuse to treat and pamper yourself with mellow, charming moments! Sign up is super easy; just ask for one of our reading logs anytime Monday - Friday from 10 am - 9 pm. Each reading log comes with a cute bookmark that gives hygge reading suggestions, and a fantastic coupon book supplied by Biggby, our partners in this event. Our reading log is bingo style, and as soon as you finish one bingo you can pick out a book out of our prize pile. Your prize can be picked up when we’re open to the public again, but in the meantime you can try to fill out a couple more bingos as a fun excuse to spoil yourself this season. We hope you’ll have a lovely, snug, book-filled winter!
THE MICHIGAN LEARNING CHANNEL
A new resource has been made available statewide for all residents. It is described as "A statewide public television partnership offering instructional content to support the education of students and to provide alternative resources for families and teachers."
You can find out more by visiting their website: https://www.michiganlearning.org/